Roger Federer Vs the New and Improved Andy Roddick, the 15th Grand Slam is Going to Be Harder to Win

Andy Roddick is known for his big serve. Maybe in the past he would try to volley, but he was quite dismal and awkward at it. Andy Roddick would hit the big serve and stay at or near the backcourt or the baseline for most of his volleys. He wasn't fast and agile, there was very little of the rushing to the net. His match against Andy Murray in the 2009 Wimbledon Grand Slam semi-finals proved he was more than capable of hitting the big serve and he proved that he could volley as well. Andy Roddick beat Andy Murray 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the Semi-finals. It was a close, exciting match, that revealed a new exciting Andy Roddick.

The British were willing to spend 20,000 pounds for tickets to the finals at Wimbledon, because they thought their home grown boy would be facing off against Roger Federer in the finals. Andy Murray has beaten Roger Federer in other major tournaments this year, maybe the British would finally get to keep the Wimbledon trophy in England. No British Tennis player has won the Wimbledon Grand Slam since Fred Perry did it in 1936. Well, it looked like the Wimbledon drought will continue for at least one more year.

As Roger Federer tries to win his 15th Grand Slam, he is going to be playing a different Andy Roddick. Roger Federer has an 18-2 record against Andy Roddick. Roger Federer will be facing a better Andy Roddick who has dropped 15 pounds over the last few months. He has a new coach and has practiced harder on his volleys and serve returns. I have never seen Andy Roddick play such intelligent tennis. At times he even looked like Roger Federer. He could anticipate where Andy Murray would be, and would place the volley accordingly. While his hardest serve was 141 mph, he relied more on volleys to beat Andy Murray. He played the net, like he owned it. In the past, Roddick was clearly uncomfortable at playing the net. You could tell he was fitter, because he would run from one side of the court to the other without feeling fatigued, he was quick and agile.

This 2009 Wimbledon Finals will be almost exciting as the 2008 Wimbledon Finals. This Wimbledon Finals will not be as easy for Roger Federer when he beat Andy Roddick in the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals. Roger Federer is not going to have an easy time time winning the 2009 Wimbledon Finals. The 15th Grand Slam is going to be a little tougher for Roger to win. Roger meet the new and improved Andy Roddick who dispensed with the #3 seed Andy Murray in four sets.